1) Joann told me yesterday that Husker Gary had meatloaf, whipped potatoes and green
beans for lunch and strawberry yogurt for dessert. The first
non-liquid meal he had in ages. He's coming home today. Thanks for your prayers and positive thoughts during the past two weeks. Thanks for keeping us updated, Joann!

2) Melissa's daughter placed 2nd
in novice and 3rd in open for bikini division in
National Physique Committee Championships held in San Jose yesterday. She was the cheerleader for San Jose Sharks last time Melissa talked about her. Maybe she still is.

3) Happy Birthday to dear Barry G, the
Cal Ripken, Jr. of our
blog. Barry started commenting on our blog shortly after I started and
missed only a few days when he was traveling for work. Barry is an avid
fisherman and a terrific chef. Check out his recipe for seafood linguini. I think he also has a secret pasta sauce recipe.

Jun 28, 2015

Theme: "Slightly-off Broadway" - One letter is dropped from each play.

24A. Show about shoeless Shem? : BARE FOOT IN THE ARK. Barefoot in the Park.

39A. Show about auto club service? : ON THE TOW. On the Town.

57A. Show about an unusual car? : THE ODD COUPE. The Odd Couple.

71A. Show about sorry predators? : THE PIRATES OF PENANCE. The Pirates of Penzance.

90A. Show about inventions in the military? : PRIVATE LIES. Private Lives. The only unknown musical to me.

104A. Show about baseball's Hodges as the life of the party? : FUNNY GIL. Funny Girl. Gil Hodges was the winning manager of the 1969 World Series.

122A. Show about a pageant contestant with rhythm? : BEAUTY AND THE BEAT. Beauty and the Beast.

I don't think the dropped letters P, N, L, Z, V, R & S (no dupes!) spell out anything. Just a tight set of 7 musicals that make surface sense once a letter is dropped.

I think this is Jim Quinlan Sunday debut. Lemonade blogged his first LAT back in April. Jim took advantage of the moderate theme material (total 89 squares) and gave us a solid grid. No obscure names or places or words in this puzzle. Very clean.

99. Complimentary words from a bartender : ON ME. I was thinking of something flattering.

101. Get in line : OBEY

103. Munch : NOSH

105. Cried out, as in pain : YELPED

106. Attends : GOES TO

107. Not learned : INNATE

108. Varsity athlete's honor : LETTER. Those stacks in lower right and upper left are not easy to fill cleanly. Great job by Jim.

110. Poetry contests : SLAMS

112. Put aside : TABLE

114. Palindromic pop group : ABBA

115. Lowly worker : PEON

117. [Just like that!] : SNAP

118. Carving tool : ADZE

120. Show elation : BEAM. Lots of 4-letter words in this puzzle.

123. Supposed abduction vehicle : UFO

124. Whole bunch : TON

125. Stevens of Alaska : TED. Bridge to nowhere.

126. "Yo te __": Spanish lover's words : AMO

Joann
has kindly kept me in the loop of Husker Gary's progress. Things look
very promising at the moment. Gary does lots of diligent walking every
day, and X-rays are performed every morning to monitor his progress.
Joann emailed me this yesterday:

"Gary called me this morning and said that the x-ray of the can barium
stuff they gave him earlier in the week is now moving through out his
intestinal system which is so great to hear! Gary is thinking the
Doctors will start him on a diet of cream soups and puddings later
today. Then they can monitor how that flows as well. We both want to
make sure everything is glowing normally before he is dismissed. "

Looks like he can go home to Joann and Lily soon. You've been through so much, Gary!

Jun 27, 2015

I thought I was going to smoke right through this puzzle, and maybe hit
my personal best time for a Saturday - alas, it was not to be. I
started off so well, too....drat. Ran into trouble in the top left
quadrant, with three proper names and a couple of vague clues. So I
cheated on 1d. Then I still did not get my ta-DA~! because of one
letter - more later. As for the grid, triple and double 9-letter
corners with two 11-letter climbers and two 12-letter spanners;

28a. Singer with the 2002 debut hit "Complicated" : AVRIL LAVIGNE
- I knew who it was right away, but then the spelling became an issue.
I was pleased to read she married Chad Kroeger from Nickelback - I like
their music; according to Wiki, the two married in a medieval castle - now that's my kind of wedding~!

42a. Constitution nickname : OLD IRONSIDES - the ship, not the document

10. Subject of a 1964 Time article subtitled "Pictures That Attack the Eye" : OP ART

if it's moving when you scroll, it's working

15. Crowded locale : URBAN AREA -
I was in Dover Delaware helping my good friend Mike move into his new
house; he has several reasons for going down there, and I have taken an
interest in going as well - I can transfer to the local UPS hub by
signing up for school. Mike's new home is about 5mins from the heart of
the city, so "Firefly" was the talk of the town, Bluehen - YoUDee~!
(actually, it'll likely be the Tech school for advertising design)

30. Most spiders have eight : EYES - I had perps, so it was not "LEGS"

31. High style : AFRO - hair style, that is

32. Place to make a splash : POOL PARTY
- My B-day is in February, so my parents frequently suggested I do a
summer pool party for a better turnout and more fun; I was OK with the
idea because I basically celebrated twice

Jun 26, 2015

Lemonade is taking a well-earned day off, and our regular
pinch-hitter is in a bit of a pinch, himself. This is my first try at
blogging, so let's see if I can keep 'er 'tween the ditches and get us
safely through to the other end of this bad boy. I believe this is
Joseph Groat's debut in the LAT. If so, “Well done, Joseph!” I hope we
see more of your work in the weeks to come.

Theme: “Tea For Me, Please.” –
T sound is added to each theme entry, changing the original Z-ending
sound into ST. All the key words go through spelling changes. There are
five theme answers, and since it's Friday,
there's no reveal. But there are two giant T's in the grid design.

17a.
Cheater's victory? : FAUX FIRST Faux Furs. I think I've mentioned my
former boss who visited a model home, and then waxed eloquent about the
“faux pas” [sic] wall finishes. I almost peed my pants.

16.
Daughter of Martin and Ida, in '70s TV : RHODA Morgenstern, played by
Valerie Harper. Valerie's got incurable cancer, and was told two years
ago that she had just weeks to live. She's 75 now, and still hangin' in
there. Good for her!